By Dipo Olowookere
Leading telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria Communication Plc has confirmed completing the N330 billion imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2015.
The last tranche of the fine, N55 billion, was paid by the telco on Friday, May 24, 2019, a statement posted on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said.
Some days ago, NCC, the telecom industry regulator in the country, had said MTN Nigeria had till Friday, May 31, 2019 to finish payment of the fine.
The company was fined in 2015 over its failure to disconnect unregistered SIM cards of subscribers on its network.
Network providers were directed by the Nigerian government to disconnect subscribers who failed to register their mobile numbers as part of efforts to curb crime in the country.
However, failure of MTN Nigeria to adhere to this directive forced the NCC to slam it initially with over a trillion Naira fine, which was later reduced to N330 billion after negotiations.
As part of the settlement agreement, the firm was also asked to list its shares on the NSE, which it finally did on May 16, 2019 by introduction.
In the statement yesterday, MTN Nigeria said it “paid the final instalment of N55 billion to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on May 24, 2019.”
“This completes payment of the N330 billion negotiated settlement agreed between the NCC and MTN Nigeria on June 10, 2016 in relation to the fine imposed on MTN Nigeria in 2015 as a result of a dispute over the disconnection of unregistered and improperly registered SIMs,” the company added.
